The card game of poker, with its many variations, has become an extremely popular form of entertainment. Poker is now a common social pastime for both gamblers and non-gamblers. The general aim of poker is to either collect a five card hand that is better than the five card hand of one or more opponents, or to try to bet in such a way as to cause, opponents to believe that their hand is inferior and subsequently “fold” (concede or turn in) their hand. Typically, the game of poker involves several players competing against one another for one cumulative “pot” or sum of money. In casinos, the dealer or “house” draws a percentage, otherwise known as “the rake”, of each pot, thus generating revenue regardless of which player wins each hand.
Two of the most popular poker games are Texas Hold'em and Omaha. In Texas Hold'em, each player receives an initial hand of two cards. Typically, there is a betting round followed by the dealing of three community cards face-up, known as “the flop.” After another betting round, a fourth community card, known as “the turn” is dealt face-up. After yet another round of betting, the final community card, known as “the river” is dealt face-up. After the river, there is a final round of betting, assuming two or more players remain in the game. In Texas Hold'em, a player may use any combination of the two initial cards dealt to each player and the five community cards to form the best five-card poker hand. In fact, in Texas Hold'em, it may be possible to use neither of the two cards dealt to the player, and form a best five-card hand solely from the five community cards.
In Omaha, each player receives four playing cards, rather than two as in Texas Hold'em. The community card distribution and betting structure remain the same. In Omaha, however, each player must use exactly two cards out of the four they initially receive in combination with exactly three of the five community cards to form their best five-card hand. Omaha therefore lacks the flexibility of Texas Hold'em when it comes to forming a best five card poker hand. However, Omaha does provide for more numerous and therefore exciting opportunities to form a best five-card hand, as there are a total of nine playing cards to choose from, as opposed to the seven in Texas Hold'em.
The final card dealt up, the “river”, which is a common component of both Texas Hold'em and Omaha, can often have a major impact on the outcome of the game. This powerful dimension of Texas Hold'em and Omaha is both relished and despised by many a poker player. Since “the river” can “make you or break you”, there are those who would prefer to play the game of poker without the potential impact of a “river” card, making do with the remaining community cards.
Therefore, both Texas Hold'em and Omaha offer separate, but intriguing benefits to poker players, while each game also has certain limitations that may make it less intriguing to different types of poker players.
A need therefore existed for providing a new, exciting variation of poker that provides players with only four community cards, thereby eliminating the “river” card, while at the same time, providing each player with three initial cards from which at least one must be used in combination with the four community cards.